Without any direct information, of course, it’s hard to tell but a business isn’t going to give up a revenue source unless it’s not giving them anything. In fact, given the supposed success of DDO and the resulting announcement about LOTRO going F2P, my guess is Hi-Rez figured out how to squeeze a higher margin out of box sales.

That combined with the F2P carrot drawing people in to pay that margin out would be a good reason to F2P. But, of course, that means that few people were willing to pony up for the subscription/premium membership…otherwise, why throw away money?

Also, if you think about it, their most loyal players–the ones that are probably hogging the servers most of the time–are the types that would pay for that premium membership (since the AvA content is where those guys will want to be. Since there are only so many large agencies out there, I figure they aren’t exactly raking in the dough on those players.

To me, they made the mistake of giving away the main pot of gold: PvP/PvE. For most casual players (who will always outnumber the hard core types…at least until the game’s run its course), they don’t have the time to dedicate to an agency. They’ll just want that shooter content. And, of course, they’re used to games like COD, BF, and the like that don’t charge you to use a server. Then again, those servers are hosted by third-parties/clans and are kept up by donations and such so the free ride ain’t so free.

It’s a hard call for the devs. After a long development cycle, they want their money. Forcing the public to pay the box fee AND a subscription for a shooter might have been a tough sell but there are people who are and would pay. Maybe if they’d rolled out more interesting features or implemented a lot of the MMO-style features from the get-go (I’m talking to you crafting), people might have been more willing to pay the sub fee and keep it going.

I think Hi-Rez essentially got so excited by the shooter they forgot the MMO or rather they re-scoped the MMO out so they could get their shooter gold and out the door. Unfortunately, I think they cut their legs off at the knees because of that.

Game over? Not really. I know a couple people who are more likely to head back into GA now that it’s free (they already bought it at launch…as did I) and take another look. I haven’t checked out the Sandstorm changes but if they’re anything like the press releases and previews seem to make them out to be, it might be worth playing GA again.

I guess the real question is: how long will Hi-Rez be able to keep the lights on with this model. If they can really keep up with a short expansion schedule then they might have a chance. Of course, if those expansions are effectively paid patches then Hi-Rez might end up being another case study in some game degree program out there.

g afk

Still, the various PvP modes and the Conquest mode (for monthly subs) looks pretty cool. Combat in PvP is always team-based (no FFA here) and involves capping points or doing some of the game modes that are direct copies of old UT game modes like Assault (though not as interesting) and existing TF2 modes like payload.

PvE is regrettably boring as hell with lame AI bots, uber strong elite bots (with the ability to walk through shields…fun), and the same maps over and over again. But, if you want to craft, you’ve got to do those PvE runs.

The Conquest mode seems to be the best part of the game (and is playable early but really for end game t ypes).

We’ll try to get a review up around launch after we’ve gotten to run through the Early Start. Stay tuned.

g afk